Let's do some more catching up!
Without a doubt one of the biggest accomplishments of summer 2009 was when Stephanie finally decided that she wanted to take the training wheels off of her bike. We had been asking her since last year if she wanted to try, but she was content with the security of always having the wheels there - JUST IN CASE. We didn't want to push her and we figured that at some point she would want to give it a try. I think I know the EXACT moment it happened too.
We were camping with friends of ours in May and their daughter Macy (who is slightly younger than Stephanie) and their son Jack (who is YEARS younger than Stephanie) were zipping around the campground like crazy on their bikes. Sans training wheels. Poor Steph had a hard time keeping up, they were literally lapping her around the loop. On the way home she commented that she wanted a bigger bike and that she was ready to do away with the training wheels, so that very day we went out and got her one.
We quickly realized that for learning purposes the smaller bike was better, so that's what she learned on. Here are a few pics from the first real day of trying.
That's Steph's Uncle Chris helping her out (one of Ron's brothers). Daddy was a bit too....shall we say...impatient (and would just let go expecting her to ride off into the sunset, then be stunned when she would crash into the bushes or a trash can), and mommy needed to take pictures (DUH!) so Uncle Chris kindly offered his services.
This next shot is a terrible blurry picture, but I love it. It shows her excitement after the first time she was able to pedal herself straight for a few seconds with control over where she was going. She was thrilled and so proud of herself.
Let me just stop right there with the cuteness and be real. This was not AT ALL fun. She was very frustrated that she couldn't just hop on the bike and ride like her friend Macy. We had to do lots of practicing for 10 minutes, then break time for an hour to cool off. Then practicing for 10 more minutes, then tears because she would scrape her leg or her hand, then break time for another 30 minutes. The good news was that she was always excited to get right back on the bike. Thank goodness. As for me, I was a nervous wreck. Each time she would panic and be headed for doom I would tense up like crazy and forget to breathe. I'm sure I was traumatized. Poor Jen....she may never get to try this. I don't think I can take it a second time around......
Let me also say that we did not come away without a few really nasty bloody "incidents". Her legs were so badly scraped up from her knees down to her feet because she refused, or kept forgetting, to use her breaks. She would put her feet down to stop and the pedals would scrape into her. Poor thing looked diseased for a week. At one point she literally bounced off the pavement, and at another point she ran into the corner of the camper WITH HER FACE. Yep. Bounced off of it like rubber and had a nasty gash on her bottom lip that was "this close" to requiring a doctor's visit.
These last few shots are from the next day (before the face-meets-the-camper episode).
After a day or two of more "incidents" she finally got her confidence and was off and running. Now, she's a pro and rides her big bike. We're so proud of her, GO STEPH GO!!!!
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